Chapter 8
Not out of the woods yet
...
They were all having breakfast next to the fire in silence. Carol was stirring the eggs in the pan, Andrea was sharpening her knife and Glenn was pacing nervously. He finally stood up in the middle.
"Um, guys," he called them but only Shane and Dale looked up to him, so he just decided to blurt it out. "So the barn is full of walkers."
They all stopped what they were doing and turned to Glenn shocked.
After Glenn's statement they all left their breakfast to go to the barn and checked it out. Maggie, who has been watching Glenn from the porch, returned to the house angrily. Hershel wasn't going to like this.
Shane was the one who peeked between a creak on the barn's locked door and in fact saw, in the dim light, at least a dozen of walkers. The group was standing just behind him and he turned to Rick upset.
"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," he said upset, walking to him.
"No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land," Rick replied as upset as him, watching the barn.
"This is our lives!" Shane yelled.
"Lower your voice," Glenn told him, watching the wooden building almost as he expected to suddenly fell down and released all the walkers inside.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea complained.
"It ain't right. Not remotely," T-Dog agreed.
"Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go," Shane started saying airily. "Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time-"
"We can't go," Rick interrupted him.
"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane said as he if were dealing with a five-year old.
"Because my daughter is still out there," Carol replied upset, her voice chocked.
"Okay. Okay," Shane replied huffing exasperatedly, running his hand across his face. "I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."
"Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick replied, firmly.
"I'm close to finding this girl!" Daryl intervened angrily. "I just found her damn doll two days ago!"
"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll," Shane mocked him.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl yelled at him, walking to him angrily but Rick raised his arm, blocking his path before he could reach Shane.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said," Shane kept saying about the other's voices. "Now, let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all 'methed' out with your buck knife and the ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!"
That Shane's little meth joke reminded Daryl about Blake and the rednecks insults he had thrown in his direction. Daryl's blood boiled and he threw himself at Shane but Rick stopped him.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"HEY! I'LL BEAT YOUR ASS!"
Shane also threw himself at Daryl and then Glenn, T-Dog and even Andrea had to keep them apart.
"CALM DOWN!"
"HEY!"
"SHANE!"
"BACK OFF!" Rick yelled at Shane when finally he and Daryl were apart, with the group separating them.
"Keep your hands off!" Shane snapped at Lori and then walked away.
"Now just let me talk to Hershel," Rick told him before he left. "Let me figure it out."
Shane stopped and turned around, so angry his ears were buzzing.
"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA FIGURE OUT?!" He yelled at Rick and Lori stopped him.
"Enough!"
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land," Rick snapped at Shane, pointing at the barn.
"Hershel sees those things in there as people," Dale intervened, looking at Rick. "Sick people: his wife, his stepson."
They all turned to the old man.
"You knew?" Rick asked him a bit upset.
"Yesterday I talked to Hershel."
"And you waited the night?" Shane snapped at him.
"I thought we could survive one more night," Dale responded glaring at him. "We did."
Then Hershel turned to Rick and added in a more calmed tone.
"I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy, Rick!" Shane yelled at the man. "If Hershel thinks those things are alive or no-!"
But he didn't finished because the doors of the barn started to move violently and several growls were heard from inside.
Two months ago...
Barbara looked down and she felt her heart dropping to her knees. She was frozen, paralyzed by fear and the impending disaster. They were hundreds of those things shaking and pushing on the fences. They were being taken down by guns, but they were too many and the noise attracted more. The girl looked at the bent fence and she knew it wasn't going to stand. It was a matter of time, but how long did she had? As that thought crossed her mind she also thought about her dad and siblings and Blake, about that man Michael and his little kid. She had to warn them. She had to take them out of there. The gun shots and growls finally grew louder than her fear. They wouldn't take anything else from her. Not now and not ever.
She looked around first looking for an exit route. The snipers and soldiers had their backs on her, too worried for the zombies as to pay attention to her and the shots covered any noises. She moved around the roof quickly, noticing an emergency stair going to the back of the school. They were a couple of vehicles there and some walkers in that side of the fence but not as many as in the front. Actually some of them were drifting to the front, where the noise was coming from.
The girl then ran back from where she had come from. She climbed down the stairs quickly but stopped when reaching the gym doors. They were closed and nobody was looking after the people. They were too many, Barbara thought. If she burst in there screaming that they had to leave, panic would let loose and they wouldn't have a chance to escape. They would be trampled over... But there were kids in there. Families like hers. What could she do?
...
Barbara woke up, startled and for a minute she swore her room was full of walkers. But her mind cleared up and she gasped, trying to catch her breath. She hadn't dreamed about that in weeks. She hadn't also been waking up startled and out of breath. She didn't take it like a good sign.
The girl sighed and moved the sheets away. She saw the light coming out the window and saw the time on the clock on her bedside table. It was ten o'clock.
"Shoot," the girl said quickly peeling off her pajamas and putting on some shorts because it was an especially hot day. She put on a navy t-shirt and cowboy boots. She brushed her teeth and pulled her hair in a ponytail. And as she did all that as fast as she could, she tried to concentrate on the task and not in the images that still flashed on her eyes. She also washed her face to help her snapped out of her bad dreams.
And before leaving, she placed her hunting knife on her hip; she hid her gun on the back of her shorts and grabbed her crossbow.
She went down to the kitchen to eat something quick and she bumped on Brett who smirked at her a bit amused.
"Where are you going Sonya Blade?" He said chuckling and she just glared at him.
"Shut up."
The girl went and put some eggs on a place and a piece of jerky.
"No, seriously. Where are you going with that?" His brother insisted and she turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Do we live in the same farm?" She said sarcastically. "I'm learning to use the crossbow. I spent a whole day training."
The boy leaned on the counter with arms crossed.
"Oh... so that's where you were yesterday. I wondered where you were while we were gun training."
The guy took a gulp out of his glass of water. Then he looked at her as he was considering his next words.
"Blake was looking for you. He didn't look happy."
The girl rolled her eyes and went to sit on the table. Her brother followed her sitting in front of her.
"He found me. And he acted like a total jackass. He insulted Daryl. He yelled at me. I was this close to..."
"Daryl?"
Barbara shrugged taking a bit of eggs and eating.
"He's the one teaching me how to use the crossbow."
His brother raised his eyebrows and took a sip of water making a face. The girl frowned.
"What?" She demanded.
"No, I just... I didn't know you know him."
Barbie shrugged.
"I helped him the other day look for that girl, Sophia. And I kinda convinced him to teach me how to use the crossbow... And how to track."
She had imagined her brother to smirk and tease her about something going on there like Elle had done it but he didn't do it, which was weird because he lived for teasing her. He always did. But he just frowned, his face darkening. He looked angry but not with her.
"You don't have to, you know," he finally said, his voice losing his typical mischievous tone. The girl frowned confused. "Those things, I mean, you shouldn't worry about that. You're doing enough learning all that medical stuff you don't have to also try to protect us. I'm here for that. I will protect you and Ellie."
Barbara finally understood his expression. He had been upset but with himself.
"I know you can protect us. I've seen you shoot," Barbie replied, softly. "But it's enough. I don't think that anymore. It's not enough you want to protect us. We need to do it ourselves."
The girl looked down at her plate.
"It just takes one moment... one slip. Just look what happened to Otis, to Dad, to Doctor Stevenson, to that girl... Nothing last anymore. Sooner or later we're gonna have to run again and when that moment come I wanted to be prepared."
Brett looked at her sister as if it was the first time he saw her. He looked at her intently and had the urge to hug her but he didn't. He got it. They needed to be better prepared. Tougher.
"I'm gonna take Ellie gun-training myself," he finally told her, breaking the awkward silence. "And I'm gonna stop until I'm sure she can't miss."
Barbara looked up to him, and smiled softly.
Two months ago...
The girl entered the gym as calmed and collected as she was able to put off under the circumstances. But as soon as she entered all eyes turned to her. All the people in the gym were scared. They held one to the others looking apprehensive because the gun shots could be heard really clearly. Some of them were perched on the windows looking outside.
"What's going on?" A guy angrily demanded, stepping to her and the others just started to scream scared.
"We want to go."
"There are children in here!"
"We need to get the fuck out of here...!"
"Hey, hey!" The girl shouted so they could shut up. The guy who had talked first just closed his mouth and glared at her. "I was on the infirmary. I'm just like you. I'm not sure what's going on. They wouldn't tell me. They just said it was under control," Barbara lied, coldly.
They started to yell again, demanding her things that she just couldn't do. By the corner of her eye she saw Bret, Blake and Ellie making her way towards her.
"Like I said, I don't know anything! I'm sorry! And I have no authorization to do anything either!" She nodded at her siblings to come to her to the door as that guy and many others glared at her, still shouting questions she ignored.
"What's going on?" Brett quickly demanded under his breath, looking around to be sure no one was listening.
"Where's Dad?" Barbara asked noticing he wasn't on the gym and she was sure they just would let him leave if he wanted.
"The plan is on," Blake mumbled. "He went to get a car."
The girl sighed, thinking she now had to go after him. She was afraid he would get caught and the soldiers would kill him.
"Shit, I need to go and get him."
"Why it's going on?" Bret pressed further and Barbara bit her lip nervously.
"There's a... heard, I guess."
They looked at her, confused.
"Walkers... Thousands of them, and they're coming even more. They won't be able to hold them out."
The horror in their faces probably reflected the one she felt on that roof. Well, maybe not as much. They didn't see it.
"What are we going to do?" Ellie asked starting to cry and Barbara looked around alarmed. The last thing they needed is for everyone to know the situation was that bad already.
"I've got a plan. But you need to act like everything's fine or everyone's going to panic and we would be dead," She said looking at her sister and her watery eyes. The blonde swallowed scared but she took a deep breath trying to control herself.
"What is it?" Blake asked his girlfriend.
"Okay, so the second floor is completely empty. There is an exit to the roof where there's a stair to the back of the school. There are some cars and is practically empty back there. But we need to do this carefully so the people won't notice."
"But... all these people..." Isabelle started and Barbara sighed, her stomach in knots.
"I know. But we need to think about ourselves first. Once you're out, I'll tell everybody."
Bret nodded.
"Let's go."
"No," Barbara shook her head. "You need to stay here for now."
"What?"
"Did you say the fence wasn't going to hold?" Bret demanded angrily and Barbara shushed him as upset, looking around. That guy was looking at them suspiciously.
"I need to find that, get the keys. And then took you out with some excuse so the people don't start rioting... but if they do before I came back stay closed to those doors."
The girl looked at some closed doors in a far corner.
"I'm gonna let them unlocked. Then you'll have to go right twice and then left to find the stairs. Go to the roof and wait for us there. There snipers and a few soldiers up there so don't let them see you. But only if I don't come back before this gets ugly, alright?"
Blake and Ellie nodded but Bret just looked at me wearily.
"Bret!"
He buffed but then nodded.
"Alright. We'll wait. Be careful."
The girl nodded.
"I will. Tell Michael and Christopher about the plan too. Take them with you."
The she left quickly as some guys were shouting after her. With some luck, they would stay on the gym until she had returned.
After his fight with Shane in front of the barn Daryl was pissed. Actually he was beyond that. He saw red. He stomped to his tent for his knife, determined more than ever to find that girl and shut everyone's mouth.
He heard steps coming and he knew it wasn't Barbara. He turned around and saw Blake coming to him, but that nasty douche bag smile was gone. Still, Daryl's body stiffened and he glared at the boy, prepared to hit him this time.
"I didn't knock your teeth out because of Barbara but if want to keep messing with me..." Daryl threatened the boy stepping to him but he raised his hands.
"I actually came to apologize, man."
Daryl raised an eyebrow and huffed.
"What? Barbara made you?"
Blake pulled his hand down and looked at the older man with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually no. She doesn't know I came."
Daryl just glared at him, noticing he was telling the truth.
"Look man, I'm really sorry. I was a douche yesterday..."
"No shit."
"Yeah well, I didn't mean it. What I said. The redneck jokes."
Daryl gave him a look and huffed.
"No, really. I just wanted to piss you off. I don't think any of that. I think you're a decent guy even if you did try to punch me yesterday."
Daryl raised an eyebrow because he knew Blake was being honest. What the hell was going on? Yesterday he had been a real jerk just because he was jealous and now he was acting like another person.
"I don't think you wanna hurt, Barbara either. And she's smart. She wouldn't trust you if it wasn't like that," Blake continued. "But I've seen how you're looking at her and I don't like it."
Daryl grumbled.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped and walked away but the boy followed him.
"No I am. And I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. I get it. She's pretty. She's witty and she's kinda a force to be reckoned with. I'm guessing you just find her attractive and that's fine. But man, the thing is she's my girlfriend and that isn't going to change any time soon. She likes you as a friend I guess but that's it. She's just being nice."
Daryl stopped and turned around to him. Shane had really pissed him and now this guy was just adding wood to the fire.
"Yeah? Well, why don't you tell her that? Huh? She's the one who asked who followed me to the woods. She asked me to train her with the crossbow. Not the other way around. I haven't started anything, so don't come at me with that shit."
"I know, you haven't started anything," Blake said seriously. "But I want it to stay that way."
Daryl looked him from head to toe, recognizing the threat.
"Or what?" He snapped at Blake, walking to him threateningly. Daryl was so angry that he would punch Blake at the least provocation but the guy didn't want to upset him anymore.
"Just stay away from her, man."
Blake glared back at Daryl and walked down. Daryl was already regretting not punching that little prick.
Two months ago...
Barbara kinda knew where the car keys were. She had overheard some soldiers saying they were with the guns and supplies on the cafeteria. But she had no idea if her dad would figure it out. There was no certainty he would be there so she would hope she would bumped into him in the way.
The girl walked quickly, hiding whenever she heard something. She had to go carefully. Even if she had more liberty because she was a kinda doctor in here, she still wasn't allowed to wander around and knew the soldiers wouldn't be too comprehensive about it.
It took her a while, because her school was a bit different than this. But eventually she found a kinda map and ran the rest of the way.
Just as she reached the doors, a shot rang inside the cafeteria and the girl froze where she was standing. Her heart starting to race with fear.
Daryl carried a riding chair to the stables. Barbara had told him to not carry heavy weights but she hadn't come and he wasn't sure she was going to, so he didn't care.
He placed it on the... and he groaned. It had been harder than he had expected and felt a pain on his side, but there was no liquid so he was fine.
Then Carol entered the stables.
"You can't," she told him.
"I'm fine," Daryl grumbled without looking at her. Shane had pissed him off. Blake had pissed him off. Barbara hadn't showed up and now his side was hurting, and he couldn't things as easily. He had no time to be nice to Carol.
"Hershel said you needed to heal," she replied as Daryl went to the wall and took some reins off it.
"Yeah, I don't care," he said turning around and going to the horse he was planning to use.
"Well I do. Rick's going out later to follow the trail," Carol informed him, but Daryl was already placing the reins on the horse.
"Yeah well, I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing," he said a bit aggressively.
"No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse," Carol told him but he just ignored her.
"And that girl... Barbara," Carol added. "It's gonna get you hurt too. If she cared she would have told you to stay-"
"That girl, like you called her, had cared more for Sophia that many in our group," he snapped at her a little. He honestly knew why he was defending Barbara if he was so pissed at her.
Carol made a pause as Daryl kept putting the reins on. She hadn't expected him to defend Barbara. And then Carol said:
"We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl," that actually made him stop and turned to her. "We don't... I don't."
He walked slowly to her.
"What?"
His blood was boiling at this point. What was Carol saying? There was no point on keep searching for Sophia? She was her goddamn daughter! And then Daryl thought about when he had been lost in the woods when he was only seven. Her mother hadn't cared to go and find him. Hell, she had even noticed. And now Carol was reminding him of that woman.
"Can't lose you too," Carol said softly, her sad eyes begging him. But he had just reached the limit of his patience. Not even Carol's tears calmed him down.
He glared at her dropping the reins. Then he walked to the riding chair, grabbed it and threw it away violently. But the motion pulled hard on his side and he bend, growling at the sudden stab of pain in his side. He pressed his wound, hissing.
"Are you all right?" Carol ran to him but he pushed her away, completely mad.
"Just leave me be!" He yelled at her, walking away angrily. "Stupid bitch!"
Daryl left the barn like a bull out to an arena and almost knocked over Barbara. She stumbled back a little bit startled, but his hand quickly grabbed her shoulder and she regained her balance. The girl watched Daryl with big eyes and placed her hand on her chest.
"Oh my God!"
"Sorry," Daryl grumbled taking his hand away and Barbara frowned, looking at him. He was angry. No, passed that. He was pissed. And he was out of breath and his face was slightly red.
"What's wrong?" She asked frowning and the guy shrugged.
"Nothing," he snapped but he didn't walk away.
The girl raised her eyebrows, clearly not believing him.
"It's time you showed up," he said a bit aggressively.
Barbara smiled at his gruffness, and placed her hand on the back of her shorts, stepping closer to him.
"Yeah, Brett kinda entertained a bit. I was hoping you hadn't leave without me."
She smirked at him and he huffed. He was still upset, but she saw a bit of his anger disappearing.
"Well you're in luck," he said taking her by her shoulder and pulling her inside the stables. Carol had left. "Come on and pick a horse that won't throw us down."
The girl stopped and turned to him quickly.
"What? No! You definitely can't ride a horse," Barbara scolded him. That only seemed to exasperated him more.
"I'm fine, dammit! What's wrong with everybody?! Don't you care that girl is out there?" She's just a damn kid and it's all by herself while we're here losing time!" He snapped at her. She watched his rant and his actions and somehow she knew his tantrum wasn't just about Sophia. She sensed it was rooted into something else but she didn't say nothing she just watched him. Daryl went to pick up the riding chair that he had thrown to the floor but Barbara was there to stop him.
"Stop! You're going to rip off the stitches!" She pulled him up so he wouldn't bend and he glared at her.
"I don't fucking care!" Daryl spat but the girl didn't back off, she just glared back.
"Well I do! We don't have spare thread to stitch you up again if you ripped them, you dumb-ass! No stop yelling at me!"
He growled and kicked the chair as hard as he could, hurting his side. He bent again by the pain and he cursed but unlike Carol, Barbara didn't move to help him. She just watched him with her arms crossed, and her lips set into a line. He huffed, spitting and cursing, bending by the pain, and slowly straightened, his chest rising and lowering violently.
"Are you better now?" She asked lifting an eyebrow and he nodded upset.
"Nah," he spat but he wasn't as angry as before. The girl just rolled her eyes and walked to him.
"Well that's too bad because you're only allowed one kick. Now come here. You're lucky you didn't hurt yourself."
"I said I was fine," Daryl snapped, but now more in a grumpy way instead of aggressive. Barbie knew his anger had passed, at least for now.
Daryl held his shirt up as the girl started undoing his bandage, to check on the stitches and changed them for new ones.
"So what happened, Daryl?" She asked him again, now that he was calmer. "And so to be clear, you don't get to treat me like that whenever you feel like just because someone upset you."
He met her eyes and he saw she was dead serious. She wasn't angry though. He thought about everything that had pissed him off. Shane, Carol, Blake... her, in an indirect way. Shane and Blake for his jokes about his background. Carol for giving up on finding her daughter. And her for being late and kissing that jackass of a boyfriend after he had been a douche bag. He decided to go for the less personal of all those.
"It's Carol. She told me not to go and look for Sophia, that we may not find her," he muttered avoiding her eyes.
Barbara glanced up at him, as she checked on the stitches. She sensed there was more to it so she let him talk.
"Oh."
"She's giving up... she's giving up on her child. And Sophia is waiting for us to come and get her somewhere, alone..."
He moved away as the last part of the bandaged fell off to the ground. The girl rolled it up and tucked it into her bag, before walking to him. His back was to her and she placed a hand on his arm so he would look at her. He turned and smiled lightly.
"We'll find her, Daryl. We will. She's not going to be alone."
He nodded and looked down at her hand. She let go of him and pulled his shirt up again. He buffed but he grabbed it as she examined the stitches. This time something warm spreading along his body and he felt he was lightly blushing. What the hell? He thought, upset. He hadn't react that way before when she had checked on him. Her finger tips touched his skin and he felt it tingling under her fingers.
"Well, you managed to not rip off your stitches. But the skin is irritated. You're healing incredibly fast," she said surprised as she pulled a clean bandage from her bag and placed it around him.
"Yeah, well, Dixon men have thick skin," Daryl quoted Merle and Barbara rolled her eyes, smiling. When her arms wrapped around him to put the bandage on place he felt the urge to step back quickly. Don't be a pussy, he scolded himself. A laugh ringing in his mind. He could almost see his brother, making fun of him. 'What's the matter lil' brother? Can handle a little girl? I thought you were so into them.' He frowned angrily but stood still, because she had to do it several times, until the bandage was in each time she rolled the bandage around her back, she pressed her body into his, over and over and over... He felt his face burning and even his hands lightly sweaty. He felt the urge to touch the girl but he would never do it. He would never do anything without her permission. But holly shit, he could feel the warm of her body each time she rolled those damned bandages, and her breath grazing his chest because of his open shirt. It felt like an eternity and still too damn quickly.
"There," Barbara said, quickly stepping away from him, her voice a little bit strained. Maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he saw her blushing. Maybe she had been affected too. Maybe he wasn't imagination her heart beating as fast as his. But when she looked up she looked normal, calm and collected.
"Let's get moving," Daryl said gruffly walking to the horse he had intended to ride. Barbara sighed, shaking her head at his stubbornness.
"Step away from the horse, Dixon. I'm mean it."
He turned to her, glaring.
"We need to find her."
Barbara walked to him, giving him a look.
"Yes, and preferably without you bleeding to death. That may scare her off a little bit."
He glared at her more, remembering Shane's jab and the girl sighed.
"Now come on. There's a lake we can check out. No need of a horse or you dying on me."
Barbara extended her arm with the intention to take his hand but he flinched a bit surprised. The girl stopped, realizing she may have gone too far and pulled her arm to her as if she had been burnt, blushing embarrassed. She didn't say anything and just walked with him outside. Daryl followed her, angry at his reaction. 'What's wrong Darylina? Don't have the balls to even hold her hand?'
Two months ago...
Barbara just stood in place her heart hammering so hard it almost hurt. But then her brain screamed at her to get moving. What if that was her dad?
The girl ducked and pushed opened the door. A soldier was standing in the middle of the room, his arm raised with a smoking gun. Luckily his back was to her and she could sneak in. She saw a body on the ground and fell her blood freezing. Maybe she shouldn't have entered but she needed to know.
She crawled, hidden by the boxes and moved as slowly as she could.
But then her foot lightly bumped into a table, full with pilled cans that immediately starting tumbling down.
She moved out of the way, almost having a heart attack. She was so screwed.
"Get up! Slowly and raised your hands!"
The soldier snapped at her but she recognized that voice. She stood up quickly.
"Dad!"
Indeed, William, clad in a stolen soldier's uniform was there pointing at her with a gun until he realized it was her daughter.
"Jesus, Barbara, I almost shoot you!" The man snapped with a mix of annoyance and relieved putting the gun down.
"There's a heard out there. It's huge and the fences won't make it. We need to leave now!" Barbara said quickly, because they had already lost a lot of time.
"I know. I saw it," her father said going to a board where there were a lot of card keys hanging from nails. "Go and keep an eye on the door."
"Look for a Chevrolet pickup," the girl said as she walked to the door quickly and looked out. The corridor was empty but not for long. "We can get out without being spotted through the roof. The back of the school it's practically empty."
"Good thinking," the man said, proud of her daughter's cleverness. He took all the Chevrolet car keys, thought and then walked to the guns. Without thinking he took five rifles. One for each of their kids and Blake. He also grabbed a lonely crossbow. It would be great if they needed to be silent.
"Come here, quick," he told Barbara and she ran to his side. He passed her the crossbow which she hung on her back, a hand gun, which she took in the back of her jeans, and a rifle. Then he took a backpack and filled it with food. She got an idea.
"We need med supplies!"
She told him and he looked up.
"There's no time!"
"I can go quick and get them. See you guys on the roof."
"It's dangerous! Dammit! The people in the gym will riot at any second and that heard it's about to enter...!"
"I need to warn Doctor Stevens! I can't leave him," Barbara told him urgently but firm. His dad gave her a quick look but they didn't got time to pander over it because they heard noises outside.
They looked at each other and he grabbed her taking her to the door. They were two soldiers running towards the cafeteria. When they spotted them they both raised their weapons but William and Barbara were quicker. It seemed to happen in slow motion. She didn't think about it. She just reacted. She raised the gun, took aim and shot.
Barbara saw as the man she had shot fell to the ground and in that moment her action and the weight of it, hit her. The bile rushed out of her mouth before she could stop it. She bent and threw up on the corridor. She had just killed a man... She had killed...
"Honey, come on," her dad urged her gently. He felt sick her daughter just had to shot someone, but at least he was relieved, she had enough common sense to shoot instead of waiting to be shot.
Barbara swiped her mouth on her sleeve and straightened up.
"Go get them and go upstairs. It's empty for now," she barely managed to say. "I'll see you there."
"Barbie..."
"Dad, please," she asked him and he looked at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. Her little girl was gone for good. He nodded.
"Go and be quick. If you haven't returned in five minutes, I'm coming for you."
The girl nodded and ran in the opposite direction from her father, her rifle firmly clasped in her hands, tears starting to run down her eyes.
"My dad had a motorcycle you know," Barbara said after a long awkward silence. She finally couldn't take it and just said the first thing she thought about. She had been thinking about her dad since she woke up.
The girl looked at Daryl who looked at her surprised.
"He built it himself."
The guy buffed and smirked a little.
"Now I think you're making your Dad up as you go."
She chuckled and shook her head.
"Nope. He only built that one and only once. I always thought he was going through some middle age crisis. But he was so proud of it. He loved that thing and only let Brett borrow it. No as if I and Elle were going to go near that thing," Barbie scrunched up her nose and Daryl smirked wider.
"What model was?"
The girl frowned, biting her lip and shrugged.
"I don't know. It was big, black and buff-looking..."
Daryl chuckled at that.
"Oh yeah. I had that same one in red," he said sarcastically and Barbara smacked his arm, smiling too.
"Shut up! Do I look like I know anything about motorcycles?"
"Huh, good point," he conceded still smiling a bit sarcastic.
"The motorcycle it's not mine. It was Merle's," Daryl said then and Barbara raised her eyebrows surprised.
"Was he older?"
"Yeah, a couple of years."
"Do you miss him?"
"Sometimes," Daryl shrugged. "That son-of-bitch got me in trouble most of the time and was just an ass but still... We had good times."
Barbara smiled at his honesty. He really missed him. And then she realized, even with the apocalypse going on, she was still really lucky. She had a home and food. She had her siblings, a boyfriend, Hershel and Patricia. And Daryl had loose the only family he had. And they had been in the road for who knows how long. Besides, he didn't look like he was really close to anyone in his group, but Carol. At least that she had seen.
"You have a brother too, don't you?" Daryl asked her and she looked up to him.
"Yes, Brett. He can be an ass too sometimes."
Daryl smirked.
"Yeah?"
"Yes, but he's fine. He just teases me a lot but he cares. This morning he found out I'd been training with you and wasn't happy."
Not hard to imagine, Daryl thought a bit angrily. Probably Bret didn't her precious little sister near him.
"Why? He thinks I'm gonna rape you too?"
The girl turned to him wide-eyed and stopped surprised at his comment.
"What? No!"
"Why not? Everyone else in your family thinks that. Wasn't that why Hershel came by. To make sure I wasn't..."
"Actually, Hershel told me he was sure I could kick your ass if needed," the girl interrupted his angry rant. She knew they had been judging Daryl way too hard. His looks didn't scream trust exactly, but he was always thinking people considered him the worst and she wanted him to stop. Why, she had lost count of the times she had defended him.
Daryl stopped at that and frowned.
"Yeah, right. I wanna see that."
"You might, if you make me angry," the girl teased him and she saw a faint of a smile peaking on his face. "And FYI, Bret wasn't worried because of you. He was angry because... because he felt he hadn't been able to protect us. He didn't want me to feel as I need to learn how fight."
"But you do. You cannot take things for granted anymore," Daryl said looking at her, his anger now gone. He understood where Barbara's brother was coming. If he had had a sister, he would also had wanted to protect her to the point where she didn't need to learn to fight, but the world wasn't safe anymore. You couldn't just assume you could protect everyone all the time. Sophia being missing proved that. They needed to be stronger, fight better. And he admired the hell out of Barbara for being so persistent about it.
Barbara smiled up to him.
"That's why I said to him and he got it. He was going to teach Elle how to shoot better."
"Elle?"
"My sister, the blonde girl."
Daryl nodded. He had seen her with Patricia when they asked Rick if they could joined them for gun training. He had thought she had been staring at him a bit curiously, but he dismissed it.
"That's good. You're bother is any good at shooting?"
The girl nodded.
"He always went with my Dad and me to hunt. He was really good... but I'm way better."
Daryl smirked at her cheekiness and chuckled.
"Show off, much?"
"I'm just being honest," the girl said with a smile, and shrugging. They kept walking but now the silence wasn't awkward anymore. And Daryl could help but stared at her a bit. She was the biggest contradiction he had ever met and he liked it. He could never imagined her holding a gun or a rifle for that matter. He could even imagine the rifle knocking her down but then he remembered when she had killed those walkers and then pulled that gun. She looked so tiny and even delicate. The way she moved was more like prancing than walking, but she had seen that intense fierceness when she had been in danger. And it was attractive as hell. The fact that her boyfriend had just told him to stay away just added to the feeling of wanting to be closer.
She sensed his eyes on her and she smiled up at him before looking ahead again, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks but her smile just got wider. He smirked, feeling his confidence increasing and he extended his hand to take hers.
"Look, there it is!" She told him, raising her arm to point and he closed his hand on a fist quickly and pulling it back to his side. She didn't even notice he had tried to take her hand and the clumsiness of it, made him blushed embarrassed.
She turned to him and he looked ahead, trying to look nonchalant. The lake looked like a green mirror, surrounded by grass and moss. It was secluded thanks to the trees and there was a dock on their right.
"I found this place after we came here and I just loved it," the girl told him as she walked straight to the dock. He followed her. She left her crossbow over the wood plank and then pulled her gun from the back of her shorts. Daryl froze, standing in the middle of the dock, staring at the gun offended and hurt.
"You still I'm gonna jumped on you?" He snapped at her and she looked up startled and a bit confused.
"What?"
"That damn gun. You still think I'm gonna try to do something-"
"No, Daryl, I swear," she quickly said interrupting him, and raising her hands. The guy just glared at her.
"Then why the damn gun?"
"Because out here it's not safe," Barbara shrugged, looking at the trees with apprehension. "Or don't you remember a walker almost rip my throat out? I bring it to defend myself against those things, not against you. I trust you."
He understood her motives and it made perfect sense so he felt like an ass.
The girl turned around and sat on the dock, her legs hanging from it and she took her boots and socks off, dipping her feet on the cool water. Barbara then looked up to him. She saw him standing awkwardly in the middle of the dock and she patted the place next to her.
"Come on, join me."
Slowly he walked to the edge and like her; he dropped his crossbow to the side and then sat next to her. He didn't took his shoes off, thought. He didn't think they would smell that nice and didn't want to make her uncomfortable. But that meant that he had to held his legs up so his feet wouldn't touch the water.
"Come on, take them off," Barbara said startling him. It was as if she had just read his mind. "It's nice the water. Perfect for this heat."
He looked at her and she just raised her eyebrows. So he quickly took his boots off, and threw them behind him, making sure they were near her and dipped his feet as well.
Barbara sighed and when he turned he saw she was looking around, sadly.
"I found this lake just after my dad died," she confessed him. "I lost my mother and then him... I just wanted to run away and this was the closest thing I could find. Here it's so calm. So quiet."
And it was, Daryl had to agree. He liked that about this place. Not noise other than the nature's. It reminded him when he had left his home and wandered off to the woods. Each time they're parents fight, or her mother was too drunk that she passed out, or after his father had hit him. He ran where everything was quiet. Where couldn't hear nothing but the crickets. But he didn't want to think about that. It had been too long, and he wasn't alone, he reminded himself.
"What happened to them?" He found himself asking. He wasn't sure if Barbara would share anything to him but he could try. He wouldn't judge her.
The girl looked up to him and then away.
"What happens to everyone eventually I guess."
She sighed and before she could realize she was speaking.
"We left Atlanta just before everything got ugly. It was late. My sister and I just had returned from a party. Got no idea what was going on but my dad was packing like crazy. He packed one car with supplies and gave them to the... to our staff," she said tentatively. She was almost expecting a nasty joke from Daryl but he didn't say anything. So she just kept going. "And then we stayed alone. My brother had gone to the back for our rifles but some walkers got in and we didn't notice on time. They had him cornered and we heard him scream. And my mom, she didn't hesitate one moment. She ran after him and tried to help him but... she didn't saw there was one on the floor and he bit her on her ankle. And I still can remembered clearly her screams."
Daryl looked at her but didn't say anything. What could he say? He had loved her mother to an extent. He had felt her lose because from his parent she was the one who cared a bit. When she wasn't drunk or high, which didn't happen often, but still she had cared for him, at least in the beginning. But Daryl couldn't imagine her, throwing herself in front of a walker to save him. She would probably be just too drunk to do it.
"My dad killed the one who bite her... and I killed the other," Daryl turned to look at her a bit taken aback. "Didn't think about it. I just saw red. I walked to that thing, grabbed a kitchen knife and just stabbed it. They looked at me as if I were one of those things, you know."
Daryl knew. When all that had started people got confused. That's why most of them were gone. They saw the walkers like they were still alive or they were just dead afraid of them. Just took them out with bullets. But Daryl and Merle didn't waste time. They did shoot them but in more than one occasion they just grabbed their knives and stabbed them. And people had looked at them as if they had just stabbed someone alive. Even now, his group still needed guns to kill walkers.
"You did what you had to do," Daryl said and she turned to him. "Not everyone has the balls to do it."
She smiled a bit but it was sad, and she just nodded.
"I stitched her up. I stopped the bleeding. But it was too late. She died and my dad took her and..." The girl shook her head, and her voice broke. Just remembering that day messed her up. She hated everything about it. She had lost her home, and her mother, in just the blink of an eye.
Barbara cleared her throat, blinking back her tears. She wouldn't cry in front of Daryl or anyone. Never.
"Then we tried to found Blake's mom but... she had been bitten and turned already," she continued and Daryl frowned. He was far from feel sympathy for that guy but he knew nobody deserved to lose a dear one like that. Without a goodbye.
"And then we left. My dad had talked to Hershel before the communications fell and told him we were coming. We had to practically surround Atlanta because all the highways were full and then we stopped on the town's high school. It had been turned into a safe zone. We thought we could just stop by... but they didn't let us go."
"Why?"
The girl shrugged.
"They wanted our supplies, I think. They took them and our car and made us stay. There were a lot of people in there. And then they found out I was a med student. They had adapted the infirmary hall into a make-shift hospital and I kinda worked there for a while. I attended some wounded people the soldiers brought up. And that's where I learned to perform a surgery. I did like five, or six. Can't remember. But when they took me, they hit my dad, and Bret and Blake. They wanted to leave and made a plan and everything." She couldn't help the little smile, remembering her dad's conviction. She looked up to Daryl who had been watching her closely.
"And then the high school got overrun."
Two months ago...
Barbara's ears were buzzing and she barely could see where she was going because of her tears.
She had killed a man. She had killed him in cold blood. She, who had intended to be a doctor. Who had sworn to protect and preserve life... just took one. She felt sick to her stomach. But she kept running. But did she deserved to survive? Maybe she didn't anymore. She taken one life and had no right. But why then she kept running. Why she wanted to take the meds and go back to her family and go out. She shouldn't. She should stay back with the sick people and try to help them out.
When she entered she almost bumped in to Doctor Stevens.
"Barbara, Jesus, I've looking for...! What are doing with that?!"
His eyes opened wide as he stared at the rifle and crossbow.
"You need to come with me now! There are thousands of those things outside and the fence it's not going to hold!"
"I know I saw... but I can't leave my patients... we can't leave them," he glared at the girl and the guilt was even greater.
"I'm sorry," she passed by him through the office where her things were. She grabbed her backpack and threw her med books inside even if they weighted her down. She hung her in her back, feeling a bit buffy thanks to the crossbow. When she left the room and went to the meds storage Doctor Stevens followed her.
"Where do you think you're going?"
She didn't answer, she just started grabbing bandages, and pills, and antibiotics, and alcohol and put them in her backpack.
"Those are not yours...!"
"Not all of them," she snapped back. "They took our supplies, now we're taking them back."
She sighed and stepped to him but he just stepped back.
"If you stay, you're not going to survive. And our patients won't make it out of here. It's just question of time before the fences give out and then the soldiers are going to leave. They won't help them. And those things are going to eat them."
"It's not what you're asking?" The man snapped at her. "For me to leave with you and leave them behind."
The girl shook her head and handed him a bottle with... The man looked up to her shocked.
"I know... but we can helped them. The least we can do is to make sure their deaths are not painful."
The man's hard face slowly crumbled and tiredness and sadness crept over.
"I can't do it, though."
"I can't either," Barbara admitted. "So just give them away. Let them make their choice."
The man slowly nodded and she followed him to their first patients' room. Most of them were sleeping.
"What's going on?" The man without leg who had asked Barbara to kill him, asked afraid, looking at her weapons.
"The school is going to be overrun. And we cannot move you all."
The room fell silence.
"Don't let us be eaten alive," the man without leg implored and the doctor nodded, giving him a pill. The man looked up at doctor Stevens and then at Barbara and smiled slowly.
"Thank you."
He took it quickly and then laid back. They gave the pills away to the ones who had lost a leg or just couldn't stand up. They did the same in the other rooms. Two of them implored to not leave them behind but they had to.
And then just as they ran out of pills the shots were heard louder and closer, there were screams and panic people flooded the corridor.
"We have to get out of here now!" The girl shouted at the doctor, and taking his arm he pulled him out of the corridor. Then they heard shots inside the school.
"Good Heavens," the doctor said looking behind them, and the girl quickly pulled the gun out of her jeans and passed it to him.
"Here!"
The man took it surprised and followed the girl.